Set Up
by crazytomboy78
Summary: It's date night for our favorite trio! But Tony and Pepper have other plans for Rhodey's single Friday night, and Virgil's new girlfriend has a lot in store for Pepper. Pepperony, RhodeyxOC.
1. Incoming

"Hey Pep, I'm coming in the armor to pick you up, your dads not home is he?" Tony asked once Pepper answered her phone.

"No, he's on date night with his new girlfriend Amy." Pepper answered.

"Aw, I'm sure you'll warm up to her." Tony offered as he landed on Pepper's back porch. Pepper came out, having hung up the phone, and wrapped herself in his arms. Tony held on tight and took off towards his house.

Tony came into the Rhodes living room from their front door with Pepper and they plopped themselves on the couch, turned on the TV and looked for a movie to watch.

As they did so, Tony sighed in comfort as he wrapped his arm around Pepper's shoulder and said "Spending another friday night at home, eh Rhodey?" Rhodey had been sitting on the other couch, reading a book.

"So are you," Rhodey answered, not bothering to look up from his book.

"Yeah, but I have a girlfriend so that's okay." Tony smirked. Rhodey grimaced.

"Oh whatever. Maybe I like my Friday nights at home." Tony turned to Pepper and they shared a chuckle.

"Well since you were so prominent on getting us together we'd like to...thank you." Tony began.

"So we invited that girl from your history class, what's her name, Paige?" Pepper nodded briefly to assure Tony that he had gotten her name right.

"WHAT?" Rhodey exclaimed, spitting out the soda he'd just sipped. Tony and Pepper broke out into a laugh. There was a knock at the door, and they just laughed harder.

"Well, go get it! It's your house!" Tony laughed. Rhodey went to answer it, growling at Tony.

"It's your house too..."

"Yeah, but I just live here." Pepper giggled more at the statement.

When Rhodey answered the door, sure enough, it was Paige, standing patiently with a smile on her face.

It was true that the young African-American boy had been starting to crush on her, but he hadn't ever intended on telling her such a thing due to him being too scared to do so.

"Oh, hey Paige. Tony told you where to go, I take it?" He greeted. She nodded with a "mhm."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't get to talk to you. Tony kinda set me up." Rhodey explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry do you want me to leave?" She asked.

"No, no, this could be fun. I think Tony and Pepper have found a movie by now, wanna sit down and watch it with us?" Rhodey offered with a smile.

"Cool!" She said calmly. Rhodey led her into the living room and they sat on the couch next to the one Pepper and Tony were hogging—Tony had stretched out his legs on the whole couch, and as a result Pepper was laying on top of him, resting her head on his chest right above his arc reactor (the sounds of the mechanical beating soothed her) and Tony had one arm around her shoulders and the other one holding her hand—and they sat down to the beginning of some romantic comedy that Pepper had picked out. Rhodey didn't get the title, but he didn't exactly care.

Paige was familiar with Pepper from their shared study hall in the mornings, so of course she had heard of her and Tony's relationship. Pepper would get bored and start talking to Paige every day about what was going on in her life lately. Paige enjoyed their conversations. She didn't exactly remember how Pepper and Tony got together, but she knew they had recently in the last few weeks.

"They're so cute!" Paige whispered to Rhodey. Rhodey snickered.

"I know, I was the one that hooked them up." He whispered back.

Then Rhodey got up to get some popcorn, Paige following, mostly so they could continue the conversation and not interrupt the movie.

"They've been friends since Tony started going to Tomorrow Academy, and Tony's so oblivious to the female sex's emotions that he never noticed she liked him so much and he never noticed that he liked her too, so I got them together for them. This is their 'thank you' gift." Rhodey explained as he put the bag of popcorn in the microwave and pressed the button that read 'popcorn'. Paige chuckled.

"I've seen them in the hallway holding hands. They're so cute when they're together!" Paige said.

"I know. That's what I said. It just made them blush before they were together. Obviously you see why I had to get them together."

"Because you're just such a good person." Paige said jokingly. Rhodey placed his hand on his chest to look more regal as part of the joke and said,

"I know. I do what I can." They chuckled together as the microwave rang the sign that their food was done. Rhodey grabbed the bag of popcorn and poured it into a bowl, then took it back out to the living room for the four of them to share.

By the end of the movie, Tony and Pepper had fallen asleep in the position they had started the movie in so Rhodey and Paige quietly shuffled over to the door.

"Thanks for having me over tonight, I had lots of fun." Paige said quietly.

"No problem. We should do it again sometime, just the two of us." Rhodey smiled.

"That sounds fun. See you in school Monday," Paige leaned in and kissed Rhodey on the cheek before finding her way home. Rhodey smiled and shut the door behind her.

~…~

A few hours later, Pepper awoke to see that it was one in the morning and her curfew was an hour ago. She shook Tony awake and Tony moaned and rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"I was supposed to be home like, an hour ago." Pepper explained.

"Oh. I'll walk you home then." Tony said, getting up from the couch and retrieving their coats. He stuffed his feet into his shoes and led Pepper out the door. It was raining outside, but they didn't mind.

"I doubt my dad's even going to be home. Whenever he and Amy go out on a date he's not back till like, two or three in the morning. Unless he knows he has to work early the next morning." Pepper complained.

"I'm sure they're having just as much fun as us." Tony offered.

"Yeah, but I don't like her. I swear the minute my dad turns his head away, she gives me a dirty look. For like no reason. She hates me." Tony kissed the top of Pepper's head.

"How could anyone hate you?"

"That's sweet, but I know she does. And my dad has like, no idea."

"Well if you think your dad's relationship is getting serious then maybe you should offer Amy to spend the day with you so you can get to know her better. Maybe if you got to know her she wouldn't seem as bad."

"Ugh, I'll try it." Pepper said reluctantly as they arrived at Pepper's apartment door.

"Good. I know you'll have fun." Tony said as he leaned in and kissed her goodnight. He stuffed his hands into his coat pocket and began the walk back to his and Rhodey's house.

Once Pepper closed the door behind her, she saw Amy sitting on the couch, staring Pepper down.

"Oh. I didn't know you were here." Pepper said quietly.

"Yeah. Your dad is just grabbing his wallet and then he's going to drive me home. Where have you been all night, little missy?" She asked, sounding too much like a mother than Pepper preferred.

"Oh, I was just at my boyfriend's house. We fell asleep watching a movie." Pepper explained. Then Pepper's dad walked out of his room.

"Oh, good to finally see you," He greeted.

"Yeah, sorry, we fell asleep." Virgil raised an eyebrow.

"God ew not like that!" Pepper exclaimed. Virgil then proceeded to bring Amy home, telling Pepper to get to bed as he passed her and once he wasn't looking Amy turned her head and shot Pepper a dirty look again. Pepper sighed and trudged up to her room.

**Hah, I made another chapter story! Let me just say this idea came to me verryyyy rannndoommlllyyy this morning, and I'm just glad it turned out the way I pictured it in my mind. It's so cutee too! Ahahah XD so review!**


	2. Day At The Mall

Pepper walked into her living room the next morning to see Amy standing in the kitchen while her father cooked lunch—Pepper had realized she'd slept past noon.

"Oh. I thought you went home last night?" Pepper asked. Her dad gave her a glare that said 'Pepper, that's rude!' but Pepper gave him a stare that said 'so? She deserves it.'

"Oh, we realized it was raining pretty hard and the wind had picked up and it was late, so your father sat on the couch while I slept in his bed." She explained. Pepper mumbled an 'oh' and cracked an egg and threw it in a frying pan.

"Say, Pepper honey, why don't you two spend the day together while I go to work? I think you two would have fun!" Virgil suggested. Pepper fake-smiled.

"That sounds great…" Pepper said with fake enthusiasm.

"Sure! I'll take her to the mall!"

_She'll take _me_? _Pepper thought.

"Sure, I kinda know my way around the mall…" Pepper agreed, the misery already blowing up in her mind. _I'd rather be sticking needles in my eyes…_

They made the plans for the day, and Virgil went to work. They planned to go in an hour or so, as soon as it took for Pepper to be ready.

Right as Pepper was finished cooking and Virgil had kissed Amy goodbye and left for work, (which caused Pepper to cringe in disgust,) Amy turned to Pepper and said,

"Oh, what fun we will have." She said sketchily. They shared a glare for a moment and then Pepper broke it when she got a text from Tony asking if she was doing something with her dad's girlfriend for the day and went to eat her brunch in peace.

~…~

One shower later, Pepper and Amy found their way to the mall and were about to get out of Amy's car when Pepper realized the doors were locked.

"Uh, are we just going to sit outside the mall and stare at it?" Pepper tried to joke. Amy glared at Pepper angrily for a moment then smiled.

"Oh, silly me! Brain fart…" She lied, sliding something Pepper couldn't see back into her pocket. She checked it off as mysterious.

"So, where do you wanna start? I know a few stores that have some cool stuff, but I'm not really all that big on shopping. I really only go when my boyfriend wants to hang out with our friends." Pepper explained.

"Oh, who's your boyfriend? I meant to ask last night." She asked as they walked through the mall.

"Oh, no one believes me when I tell them." In truth, Pepper didn't really want her to know.

"No, I'm sure it's not that unbelievable." _Damn…_

"Tony."

"Stark?"

"Yup."

"No way."

"Yup."

"Serious?"

"Yup."

"How did you meet him?"

"Well when his dad died, he was enrolled at my school and we kinda met there."

"Kinda?"

"I looked up his file that morning and the first thing I said to him was everything about his life…" Pepper admitted with a blush on her cheeks.

"Aw, that's so cute…" Amy sneered, looking into one of the stores.

Pepper could tell by the way Amy treated her that she didn't want to be here just as much as she didn't. So why did they even bother trying?

They went into a store for young adults and Pepper looked around a little bit.

"Do you think this would look good on me?" Pepper asked, holding up a pink long sleeve, V-neck sweater.

"Nah, too much pink." Amy sneered. Pepper grunted.

"I guess you're right…" Pepper lied and put it back.

After an hour or two of shopping around and dealing with Amy's angry attitude, Pepper was starting to have had enough.

"Do you like this for Tony for Christmas?" Pepper asked, turning to Amy to see she wasn't paying attention. Pepper grunted.

"What? Oh, sure." She muttered, turning back to her own business.

"Okay, look Amy, you can't just come barging into our life and expect everything to be okay the way it is, because if you think I actually like you here you're wrong. The least you can do is pay attention to me." Pepper ranted. Amy turned to her, anger showing in her face.

"Oh, I don't think me liking you is going to be an issue here. You better hope to god that your dad breaks up with me before I become permanent, because the day I do I'm going to ship you off to boarding school and you won't see your dad or your stupid boyfriend for a very long time." Amy threatened. A long silenced loomed over the two of them as they glared at each other for a few minutes and decided to call it a day.

~…~

Pepper walked into the Rhodes residence and plopped herself next to Tony on the couch tiredly.

"So how was the mall?" He asked with a smirk.

"Ugh, horrible. She literally hates me. She said that if she stays for good, she's gonna send me to boarding school. We hate each other." She explained.

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah. Oh, and she called you stupid." Pepper added.

"Psh. Obviously she has no sense of awesomeness." Pepper plopped her head onto Tony's shoulder.

"As if that wasn't bad enough, she spent the night last night. My dad slept on the _couch_, and he had to go to work today. If you're about to work all day, you sleep on your bed. She has my dad wrapped around her little finger." Pepper complained more.

"Doesn't sound like your dad."

"No, it's not. I'm worried."

"Well, if it'll assure you a little, I _am _Iron Man, and I'm sure that whatever it is if it's really necessary, I'll be there for you however you need me." Tony explained, wrapping his arm around her.

"Then why do I get the feeling I'm going to need you a lot?"

**I got bored. Without like ten million stories to update I don't know what to do with myself…anyways, review and Happy Thanksgiving! (Unless you don't live in America and you don't really celebrate Thanksgiving….-.-) **


	3. Where Oh Where Has My Father Gone

A woman with a light shade of brown hair could be seen kicking and punching a punching bag to blow off some steam brought up by a day full of undercover work that she could've spent getting more dirt on the man her boss wanted her to kill but instead spent a day with his obsessed-with-talking teenage daughter. She hated the stupid teenager. She never shut up and she always seemed to get in the way of her and her father. She had hated kids ever since her part-time job as a college student at a day-care center (it was a last effort to make some money. She had been going to college for 'a legal education'). It was one of the few downsides of the job, but other than that she loved it.

As she threw in the towel for the day, her phone went off. She pulled it out of her bag and saw the caller I.D. with a smile.

"Oh, hey you!" She answered.

"Yeah, I'm just getting out of work. What's up?"

"Oh, yeah I can do that! No problem!"

"Okay, see you soon. Bye." She hung up and left work to continue her undercover work.

~…~

Pepper was sitting on the couch doing her homework and watching TV when Amy walked in, pushing her light brown hair pack into a ponytail.

"Hi there, Patricia, where's your father?" She asked, hiding her sneer with a smile.

"He's doing some laundry upstairs." She explained. Amy nodded and found her way to their laundry room. As soon as she was gone, Pepper gathered the things she needed to do her homework with and left for Tony's.

"Aren't you supposed to be doing homework?" Tony asked once she got there.

"Yeah, but not as long as _Amy _is there." Tony smiled and sat at his desk while Pepper worked more on her homework while she laid back on Tony's bed. The room was as Pepper did her homework and Tony looked through some schematics on his computer; until Pepper kept eyeing Tony as he worked away on his computer and began to not be able to figure some—no, all of them—problems wrong. She smiled.

"Hey, Tony, I'm having a little trouble with my math, think you could help?" She asked. Tony smirked.

"Sure," Tony took a seat next to Pepper on his bed and looked over her shoulder at her math homework.

"Hey, that's not math homework," Tony noticed with a smile.

"Oh, isn't it? Sorry, I kinda just like talking to you." Pepper responded with a wider smile. Tony shook his head and began kissing her.

"God even when you get a room it's weird!" Rhodey commented as he was walking by Tony's room. They chuckled and went back to their business—when Pepper's phone went off. She sighed in complaint and answered it.

"Pepper, where are you? Amy said you were gone when she went back downstairs." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Dad, I just went over to Tony's." Pepper responded.

"Pepper, you know you're not supposed to be out past nine on a school night! Especially at Tony's!" Virgil scolded. Pepper sighed miserably.

"Ugh, fine whatever." She said as she hung up.

"I gotta go, it's past my curfew." Pepper said reluctantly, packing up her things, giving Tony a kiss goodbye and went back home.

Once she got there, she came to Amy standing there, tapping her foot, arms crossed, devilish look in her eyes.

"What? Are you going to ground me? Cuz you can't. You're not my mom, if that's what you're trying to do, so stop trying."

"No, I'd never want to be your mom. I'm just trying to make your life as miserable as I can while I'm here," She said as Virgil came down the stairs.

"Pepper, I'm not going to punish you, but one more time and you know what'll happen. You have a curfew for a reason." Virgil scolded.

"I'll be home in a few hours, see you later honey." Virgil kissed Pepper's forehead and Pepper went up to her room miserably after Amy turned over her shoulder to give Pepper a dirty look.

_Sometimes, _she thought, _I really hate my life._

Why does dad have to start dating again anyways? I thought after he and mom split he told me he was done with women. He had even promised me right after my mom moved out. I remember that day so well…

**Flashback!**

_A young girl around the age of five sat on the steps of her apartment with her head resting in her hands. Her father came down the steps and sat next to her. _

"_Pepper, honey, I know you're upset, but this is for the best. Mommy and I…we just don't get along anymore, okay?" The little girl just looked away from her father._

"_Come on, honey, you can still see mommy every other week." _

"_But daddy, I don't want a new mommy!" The little girl cried._

"_What makes you think that?" _

"_Because that's what happens when every mommy and daddy stop loving each other." She moped. The father wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. _

"_Look, sweetie, I promise you you will never have a new mommy. I don't want you to have a new mommy. The only woman I want in my life anymore is you, okay?" The little girl was silent and reluctant for a moment until she smiled at her dad and jumped onto his lap. He picked her up._

"_Come on; let's go see some animals at the zoo. That ought to cheer you up." The girl cheered._

"_Yay, I like the penguins!" _**(A/N: Shout out woot! If you know what I'm referencing ;D )**

**Flashback endd.**

What happened to that dad? He's being so unlike himself lately and I can't stand it. And even worse than that, he doesn't realize that Amy is a total bi…eotch. How can he be so completely oblivious that he comes off as thinking that Amy is nice?

Pepper thought more as she did her homework in her bedroom until a few hours later, Virgil came home and knocked on her bedroom door.

"Pepper, honey can we talk?" He asked. Pepper got up and opened her door, crossing her arms.

"Go ahead. Talk."

"Look, I know you're not exactly liking the idea of me dating again, but that's no reason to leave past your curfew on a school night."

"Yeah, that was _totally _my bad."

"Hey, don't you dare give me attitude!" He scolded. Pepper sighed.

"What, are you going to ground me? Ooh, how terrible."

"Don't disrespect me!"

"Oh, I'm disrespecting you! My bad! I didn't mean to _upset _you!"

"Pepper, why are you acting like this?"

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS? Once in my life, apparently a long time ago, I had a dad who said that the only girl he needed was me. I once had a dad that told me he missed my mom too much to even think about dating. A dad who once told me that dating was so much trouble and hassle that he just wasn't going to try. What happened to that dad?" Pepper yelled. There was a moment of silence between them as they exchanged angered or confused glares. After the long moment, Pepper slammed her door shut and went back to her homework—and by now, of course, texting Tony.

**Heey I updated! Yaay :3 took me awhile, but I finally got to it. But just so you're all aware, I'll only be updating stories until this Tuesday or Wednesday, because I'm going on vacation Thursday for a week. But I should get it done before I leave :D review?**


	4. Suspicion, Suspicion

Pepper was sitting on the couch watching TV when Amy walked in, wielding some sort of mysterious black device that she was talking into, almost like a high-tech walkie-talkie.

Pepper knew she had seen it on Agent Hill during the gang's S.H.E.I.L.D. excursion. She knew it was a device from some sort of government agency…so why did Amy have it? Pepper marked it as a suspicion and decided that once she was out of eyesight she'd call Tony about it.

"Oh…you're here again…" Amy said as she noticed Pepper doing her homework.

"Well I do kinda live here." Pepper said, annoyed.

"Well your dad told me that you're usually out with your little friends and not home; I don't usually expect you to be here…"

"Well I gotta come home some time."

"You know, kid, if you're a little nicer there's still time for me to reconsider shipping you off to a stupid boarding school when I really get your father wrapped around my little finger."

"You know, kid, that doesn't threaten me, and by the way, good luck with that. The day my dad takes the duration of a Kardashian marriage to make a decision is the day I break up with my boyfriend because I don't love him anymore. Oh, and for the less intelligent, that means never."

Amy scowled at Pepper. She'd had just about enough of this stupid teenager. She regretted the day she accepted the task of killing a certain FBI agent in exchange for a raise.

~…~

I suppose something needs to be explained.

In a large city such as New York, you have your gangs, your mobs, your Mafia, etc. Basically, you have secretive groups of people who have dedicated their lives to killing people they didn't like or just plain felt weren't doing any good for society. Among these gangs and mobs was a secret organization of assassins who worked for a man with large motives in the killing business and was seen as a largely important businessman, as his cover. The business's cover was an accounting business that hired out accountants to businesses that needed them. No accountants were really hired out very often at all, though. There was mostly undercover cutting and stabbing, and of course, shooting.

This company went by the name of The Accounting Company. They didn't work very hard on the title, of course, because they really didn't care about it. You'd be surprised who works there, though. They make sure that their more popular assassins had a solid cover as a good business person so they had a solid alibi if they were ever accused of murder. They worked hard on having a solid cover, just not the title of their solid cover. So don't let it deceive you.

Among this assassinating company, there was a particular assassin that the head honcho favored. He claimed that she reminded him of himself when he was in his earlier working years. However, he really just liked her because she reminded him of his first wife; his first wife only agreed to marry him because she liked to screw him. He liked that. He liked women in general. That's why he openly hired them when they applied.

But that was beside the point. The boss had had his eye out for a man who worked for the FBI that was doing them plenty of good for the government in regards to catching the bad guys. And he had been getting a little too close to the 'Accountant Company' for comfort. He wanted this man gone. He wanted to give his favorite assassin a raise—or in other words, get her closer to him, if you know what I mean—I think you can put the rest together.

So yes, basically this whole strange predicament was started by a man's need for a woman's touch.

Who's behind all these schemes? Well, I can't tell you…

~…~

Pepper got a text from Tony saying an Iron Man emergency had come up and he and Rhodey needed her at the armory. Pepper threw her books into her room and made her way over to the armory, thankful for an excuse to get away from Amy. She got to the armory and Tony and Rhodey were already out in the armors.

"Oh, good, you're here. Look, Pep I need you to look into the systems chart on the computer and see which system is failing, something's not working in the armor. We found a police report about a suspicious clanging noise in an apartment on the seedier part of town." Tony explained. Pepper went to the computer and immediately went to work, soon finding the error and sending the report to the Iron Man armor. Tony was able to immediately fix it.

As she was exiting the program, Pepper realized something. She immediately raced to the computer to look up the file of an Amy Hill on the FBI database, when she heard a shout from the armor from Tony claiming that he needed Pepper at the systems chair immediately. She had just pressed the 'enter' key on the keyboard after typing in her name. Without Pepper's knowledge, the file came up to reveal the portrait of a woman with a light shade of brown hair and green eyes. The file information said she worked for some sort of accounting company which is suspected to not be exactly that. But Pepper would never see that file, now would she?

~…~

Tony and Rhodey landed in the armory after a long and tiresome fight in the skies around a seedy apartment building. Tony got out of the armor and shuffled over to Pepper, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her gently.

"Sorry today was so sudden…" He mumbled.

"It's always sudden, Tony, I'm used to it." Pepper said, kissing him back. Pepper led Tony out of the armory and the three of them walked back to the Rhodes residence together. It was a Friday night, so Pepper wasn't concerned about her curfew, thank the lord, because the last thing she wanted to do was go back to Amy being all over her father.

"Are you sure it was some sort of S.H.E.I.L.D. gadget?" Tony asked.

"Tony, I know my S.H.E.I.L.D. It was definitely from there." Pepper said.

"Alright, I can't doubt obsession. But what do you think she's doing with it?"

"I don't know. I know for a fact she can't possibly work for an organization as awesome as S.H.E.I.L.D. because there's no way that her heart isn't made of complete coal and evil. And she keeps threatening to send me to boarding school when she 'marries my dad'. Yeah right, I doubt he'd ever ask her something like that. Maybe she's up to no good. I don't know, I'm worried." Tony kissed the top of her head and hugged her close to him.

"You're always worried, Pepper." He smiled. Pepper hit his arm gently and chuckled.

"Shutup, you're plenty insecure too." Pepper teased as they curled up on the couch (they were pleased to find out that Rhodey had invited Paige out to a movie that he wanted to see after Tony and Pepper said they already had a date planned for the night) and surfed the channels to watch their favorite shows.

For now, Tony seemed to make Pepper's worries go away. But would that last too long with Amy snooping into places Pepper knew she didn't belong?

**Sorry to leave things hanging like this, I'm kinda on the mystery side of writing style lately. I'm liking the intrigue it brings along :3 review?**


	5. Surprise!

Amy was waiting for Virgil to change out of his work clothes and into something comfortable for movie night, so to pass the time, she looked around at the paraphernalia that he had as decoration in the halls. Pictures of Pepper when she was a young child, pictures of young Pepper with her mother, and pictures of the three of them together. She picked up a photo that was sitting on a side table of Pepper when she was about five, being held by what seemed like her grandmother. She smiled insincerely at the memories. She was here to ruin them, not admire them.

Virgil walked out of his bedroom, dressed comfortably.

"Alright, ready to go?" He asked. She smiled and nodded.

"Whenever you are, as usual." She said boredly.

"You know I work late on Fridays. You're the one that keeps coming over early." He teased with a smile. Poor sucker, she thought. He's got no idea what he's got coming to him. He thinks this is a real relationship, doesn't he? Poor sap.

Amy watched him from the corner of her eyes as he opened the passenger's side door of his car for her, and she watched as he got in on the other side and pulled the car out of the parking lot of their apartment building to transport them to the movies. She wasn't really one for cushy, cuddly romantic junk. She was into cutting, stabbing, and of course, shooting. If she went on in the relationship, she knew she'd go mad.

Once they parked the car and were walking across the street to the theater, Amy stopped them.

"I'm so sick of this," She said, pulling a small radar-like device.

"What's tha…" Virgil began to ask, but was stopped once she fired it at him, rendering him in a state of hypnotism.

"You're going to ask me a very important question that will change our lives forever." She commanded, explaining herself further. She shut off the device and Virgil was returned to his normal state.

"What are we standing out here for? We've got a movie to catch!" He said, walking into the theater, questioning his thoughts of a golden ring floating through his head.

~..~

"You're getting _WHAT!" _Pepper yelled.

"I know it's a little sudden, honey, it came at me suddenly two. But I have been thinking about it a lot lately, and I know you could use a little motherly guidance in your life since your mother left…" He was stopped there.

"That's not necessary, dad, I still see mom every weekend! I don't need another mom!" Pepper yelled.

"Look, honey, its better this way. You'll see." Virgil patted his daughter's back and they left so Virgil could take Amy home. Pepper collapsed on her couch and dialed Tony's number.

Tony, of course, was over in an instant.

"Pepper, I got your call, what's wrong?" He rushed in, panicked.

"The worst thing EVER just happened to me." She said, tears gathering in her eyes. Tony rushed to her side, sat next to her and pulled her into his embrace. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heartbeat.

"My dad's gonna marry Amy." Pepper explained. Tony knew immediately how much this was upsetting for her. He hugged her tighter and rubbed her back with his hand. Pepper curled into him more and let herself cry. She'd seen the look on Amy's face when her father had explained his proposal to her. The victory stare. She'd seen it when Whitney had won Tony over, she'd given it when she won Tony over, and she'd known it for a long time since. She knew when someone was giving her the victory look.

"It's gonna be okay, Pepper, I'm here for you."

~…~

Since Amy was not one to take things slowly (especially when she was trying to kill her fiancée), they managed to plan the wedding for the following weekend. **(A/N: I know, I know, completely unrealistic, but there's stuffs I need to get to.) **Pepper didn't really need to say anything to get Tony to accompany her to the event, so they decided to concentrate on getting Rhodey a date.

Pepper was sitting in her study hall when Paige came in and sat down.

"Hey Pepper," She greeted. Pepper looked up from her homework.

"Oh, hey Paige," Pepper began. "Say, I heard Rhodey was looking for someone to go to my dad's wedding with…" She hinted.

"Oh, umm, really? Cuz I'm available this weekend." Paige said in a curious type of tone.

"Well maybe you should ask about it." Pepper smirked, turning back to her homework.

"So your dad's getting married, huh?" She asked.

"Ugh, unfortunately." Pepper responded as the bell rang. They got up and began their walk to Tony's locker.

They chatted for a little longer, then it was time to go home.

Once Pepper got home, however, Pepper wasn't too pleased to see Amy sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper. No Virgil in sight.

"Comfortable?" Pepper asked snottily.

"Yes, actually."

"Well you shouldn't be. My dad's not here." Pepper snapped.

"Not so fast, you little brat. I'm just getting used to living here so I can ruin your life on a better regular basis." Amy commented.

"Pepper, you coming? We need to get to my place." Tony yelled up the stairs. She knew it was code for 'hurry up, we need to get to the armory'. She sighed at her boyfriend's impatience. She had to be in love with the boy who was a superhero in his spare time. Pepper put her stuff down by the stairs, gave one last angered glare and went to meet Tony outside her apartment building so they could get to whatever Tony needed to do at the armory.

~…~

Rhodey was walking out his front door to meet his friends at the armory when he was stopped by Paige, who was about to knock on the door as he was opening it.

"Oh, hey Paige, what's up?" Rhodey asked.

"Oh, um, Pepper said you wanted to ask me something about this Saturday?" She explained.

"Oh, yeah actually I did," Rhodey said. "Pepper's dad's wedding is this Saturday and I needed a date." Rhodey explained. Paige smiled.

"I'd love to go with you," She said shyly. Rhodey smiled.

"Cool, it'll be fun. I'll pick you up around two." Rhodey said. She smiled and nodded.

"Well, I gotta get home…lots of homework to do…see you around," She said, waving and walking away. Rhodey smiled and headed down to the armory.

At the moment, it seemed like everyone had someone to care for. But that would change for a specific FBI agent/single father…

**Aww, I had to cut off here? I wanted to write the wedding ): ahh, I'll get to that soon…anyways, review!**


	6. Wedding Day Part 1

Pepper had gone to the mall with Virgil, Amy and Paige so they could pick out wedding dresses. Pepper and Paige were there to pick out their own dresses to wear to the wedding, and Virgil and Amy for their tux/wedding dress. Virgil planned to meet his brother, who was his best man, and Amy was meeting co-workers so she could pick out a dress that was ideal for hiding assassin weapons and surveillance cameras; and to lay out Amy's plan of action regarding how she was going to kill Virgil.

Pepper and Paige were in a store looking at their selection of dresses and trying them on. Paige, new to the trio, was curious.

"Hey, Pepper?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"How would I…impress Rhodey? Like, what kind of girls does he like?" She asked.

"Well, I can't be exactly sure, but Rhodey likes a girl who can be herself around him. Don't be so shy, and be absolutely, one-hundred percent yourself around him. I'm pretty sure that if you just be yourself, you guys will be soo good together." Pepper explained.

"How did you do it? How did you know you and Tony would be so good together?" Paige asked.

"Tony and I...we're…well, we kind of clicked, from the beginning. We kinda knew from the start that we were going to be good friends, at the least. You have to know that with Rhodey, you have to know you'll get along like a married couple. You just gotta know, I can't really explain it that well." Pepper explained. Paige was still very nervous about next weekend.

"I don't know, will you help me Saturday? Make sure I don't mess up?" Paige asked.

"Aw, come on Paige, just be yourself and you'll be fine. I promise." Pepper insisted. She could see the nervous look in Paige's face as she tried on a grey dress with pink lacing around the bottom of the skirt and on the thin spaghetti-straps.

"That one is pretty. You should go with that." Pepper commented.

"You think so?" Pepper nodded with a sincere smile.

"Yeah. It's so pretty on you." Paige shrugged and hung it on the wall next to her to consider, trying on the next dress.

~…~

A week passed, and the Saturday of the wedding finally came. Tony was driving the four of them to the wedding chapel. They had already picked Paige up (allowing Rhodey to have a moment to drool), and they were going to pick Pepper up next.

They arrived at her apartment building, parking the car out front before he went up to knock on her door.

Once she opened the door, however, it was Tony's turn to drool. Pepper had put on a spaghetti-strap dress in a lighter shade of pink. It had white lacing around the waist line that separated the top from the skirt and lined the bottom edge of the skirt. She had her hair curled at a salon, and put into a bun with a flower sitting atop it to match. A few stray, short stands hung beside her face. Her cheeks were ever so lightly decorated with light pink blush, and her eyes with a perfect amount of mascara and a very, very transparent white eye shadow. (Nearly transparent, to the point where you almost can't tell it's there). It was almost as if there was a ray of sunshine hitting her at the back, and reflecting all around her, creating a glow. It made him nervous, he wasn't going to lie.

"Oh, hey guys! Ready to go?" She said cheerily, grabbing her white cardigan before she closed her apartment door behind her.

"Do I look okay?" Pepper asked on their way back to the car. Tony chuckled nervously and grabbed her hand.

"I've never seen anyone more beautiful in my life." Tony answered. Pepper giggled, flattered.

"Thank you, Tony, that's very sweet of you to say." She said, kissing his cheek.

When the four of them arrived at the wedding chapel, Pepper wanted to check on her father while Tony, Rhodey and Paige went to find seats for the four of them and see who else was attending.

~…~

Pepper knocked on the door before poking her head in to the room.

"Dad? Can we talk?" She asked.

"Sure, honey, what's up?" Virgil responded as he tightened his bowtie in the mirror. Pepper stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Look, I'm…I'm not going to stop you from marrying Amy, but I just…there's not a chance you'd believe me when I say she absolutely hates me, is there? I mean, she told me she's going to send me off to boarding school." Pepper asked.

"Oh, Pepper, even if she did say that, I'm sure she was just kidding. She doesn't hate you, she told me so."

"She openly told you she likes me?" Pepper asked, arms crossed in disbelief.

"I asked out of curiosity, and she said yes." Virgil explained. He placed a hand on her shoulder, in a way to try and reassure her.

"Look, honey, I know this is all happening very suddenly, but Amy and I are very happy together. I know you're scared about all this, but it's all going to work itself out soon. And Amy's not a bad person, I promise."

Pepper, however, still wasn't very sure about that.

~…~

It was finally time for the wedding to start, so Tony held out his hand for Pepper to take, and led her to their seats. Pepper, although upset by the union of her nice, caring, affectionate father to a ruthless, black-hole-where-her-heart-should-be, cold woman, smiled and followed him to their seats, her hand comfortably in his. Though she had much to worry about, she knew that in any instant Tony could take those worries away. She didn't know how he did that, but as long as he kept doing it, she was perfectly fine with that mystery.

The priest started reciting the wedding vows, and as they listened, Pepper caught a glance of Tony sitting next to her. The stained-glass window was right by their pew, so the light coming in through it shone on his ebony-colored head. Pepper smiled and wrapped her hand in his once more. Tony glanced over at her, and suddenly something came over him that he hadn't expected. He couldn't take her eyes off of her and a warm feeling overwhelmed him. He felt like he never wanted to leave her, ever, like he needed her in his life to feel complete.

"You okay?" He mouthed. Pepper nodded and smiled. They turned back to the ceremony, Pepper resting her head on his shoulder. Tony leaned over and whispered something into hear ear.

"I love you, Pep." Pepper smiled.

"I love you too, Tony." She whispered back.

~…~

After the ceremony, the crowd went into the dining room at the hotel they had rented out as their wedding spot for the reception. There was a live band playing upbeat songs, and most of the guests had joined in the dancing and festivities, including Rhodey and Paige. Pepper wanted to say hello to a few of her family members that she hadn't seen in a long time, dragging Tony with her so she could introduce him to her family.

"Hey, Aunt Gracie! How are you?" Pepper said as she approached a tall, brown-haired woman.

"Pepper! Heya there, kiddo! Haven't seen you since you guys moved to the big city! How is it?" The lady asked.

"It's great! I LOVE my new school, and my friends are awesome!" Pepper replied. "Speaking of, I wanted you to meet my boyfriend, Tony. Tony, say hello." Pepper explained, elbowing Tony to get his attention, who had zoned out of the conversation when he got a minor alert on his phone that Unicorn and Killer Shrike could be spotted exchanging money for some weapons with Mr. Fix, but they were minor weapons such as shotguns (compared to if they were buying hand grenades, machine guns or more advanced weaponry). He had just pushed it off into the 'check out later' pile.

"Hm? Oh, hi. Tony Stark." He said, shaking hands with Pepper's aunt.

"Nice to meet you, young man. Have you been treating miss Pepper here right?" She asked, giving Tony a look that made him nervous.

"Y-yes, ma'am…" He answered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Pepper giggled.

"Don't worry, Aunt Grace, he's a great guy." Pepper said, patting Tony's back with a smile.

"Well, I'm gonna go say hey to grandma and grandpa, I'll talk to you later!" Pepper said, dragging Tony towards her grandparents.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Tony," She called after Tony. Tony waved back to her before he was pulled to Pepper's grandparents, who pinched his cheeks to no end. Tony groaned to himself in irritation, considering he hadn't dealt with aunts, uncles, cousins or grandparents in a very, very long time (or in some cases, at all), and being honest with himself, it was something to get used to.

But for Pepper, anything was worth it.

**Hey! Check out what I saw on my FB news feed! It's about new episodes at the end of the month :3 **

**http:/**

**marvel.**

**toonzone.**

**net/**

**?action=fullnews&id=755**

**If that still doesn't appear, then just copy the last line and go to Marvel's Toonzone. There's also a link to it on the IM:AA fan page on Facebook. It's also on Wikipedia :3**


	7. Wedding Day Part 2: Up To Something

Pepper was having such a great time at the wedding reception that she forgot it was celebrating the matrimony of the worst woman ever to her father. So when she turned to see them dancing together, she felt sick to her stomach. She immediately pushed past the small crowd of people and sat on a bench outside.

Tony, noticing his girlfriend's absence, went looking for her. When he found her outside, he sat beside her.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked. He knew the answer, but he knew to ask for courtesy reasons.

"No," Pepper answered. "My dad's married that…creature, and there's nothing I can do about it. The stupid…ugh, lady, wants to send me to boarding school. If I didn't know any better I'd say she'd rather just kill me." Pepper said. Tony glanced into the reception room to see Amy sporting a rather unfriendly smile, and back to Pepper.

"Isn't this just like that fairy tale about that girl who gets that evil stepmom?" Tony asked. Pepper wanted to laugh at Tony's ill knowledge of the common folk's entertainment.

"Yes, it's called Cinderella. Thank god Amy doesn't have two evil daughters…" Pepper explained.

"Look, Pep, no matter what happens with Amy you know you can count on me. I'll do anything you need, I promise okay?" Tony said, rubbing her back in comfort.

"Thank you Tony, I know I can always count on you." Pepper said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Tony heard the faint sound of a slow song playing and stood, holding out his hand for her.

"May I have this dance?" He asked smoothly. Pepper smiled.

"Of course you may," She said, taking his hand and following him back into the reception room to dance.

~…~

_That's perfect, you stupid teenager, because now I know what will destroy you enough for me to get close enough to Potts…_

Amy watched through the window at Pepper and Tony had their moment outside. She hid her staring when they came back into the room, but that wasn't important now; she knew what she had to do, and she knew the exact list of people to get rid of before she could get rid of Virgil Potts, FBI Agent. And she knew exactly how she was going to go about doing it.

~…~

Tony and Pepper were still slow dancing when most of the guests had gone home. Virgil and Amy told them it was time to go home, so the four of them drove back to the Potts' apartment. Virgil and Amy took their suitcases for a weekend-long mini-honeymoon getaway in Maine.

After Tony kissed Pepper goodnight and left for home, Pepper turned to see Amy standing behind her, arms crossed and evil smile decorating her cheeks.

"So, you can call me 'mom' any time."

"In your dreams," Pepper responded, crossing her arms angrily.

"Well this dream's about to get all too real. You better bet you're being shipped off to some boarding school at least twenty miles away." Amy threatened.

"Why? Why can't you just be a nice person and actually like the daughter of the guy you just married? That is, if you even love him…"

"Look, kid, I don't like you and I have your father wrapped around my little finger. So if I want you in a boarding school, I'll have you in a boarding school. And I'm not afraid to make you."

"You can't make me do anything!" Pepper yelled.

"Oh, maybe if I destroy your life, maybe your school and, oh, maybe even your boyfriend…maybe then you'd surrender." Amy said, smiling as if she'd won. "Hey, who knows, he's actually kinda cute. I might spare him for a night or two first,"

This just made Pepper furious beyond any amount of anger anyone could possibly have.

"Don't you dare touch my boyfriend, or so help me god I will make you so sorry that you didn't see the large painful metal pole I shoved up your—" Pepper warned, only to be cut off by Virgil coming down the stairs with his suitcase.

"Ready to go, darling?" He asked cheerily. Pepper backed off to make the scenario less suspicious and looked away as Amy seductively told him she was ready to go. Virgil went to get his coat and car keys.

"You have no idea who you're messing with, so you better back off, 'cause we can hit back harder than you think." Pepper warned as she stormed into her room to change into her comfortable pink sweatpants and white tank top (decorated with pink, blue, yellow and red patterned hearts) before she called Tony.

Virgil said goodbye to Pepper for the weekend, making sure he could trust her before he left the apartment to her for a whole weekend. Pepper promised him she could be trusted, then collapsed on her bed and dialed Tony's cell.

"_Calling so soon?" _Tony answered.

"Ugh, you'll never believe what Amy just said." Pepper complained.

"_Ew, an older woman thinks I'm hot. That's kinda creepy."_

"_Dude, an older chick thinks you're hot. I think that's a bit of a win." _Rhodey commented.

"_Alright, dude, that's weird…" _

"Tony! Am I on speaker again?" Pepper whined.

"_Sorry, Pep, I have to work on the armor."_ Tony explained.

"Ugh, fine. Anyways, I'm really worried. She said she'd destroy the Tomorrow Academy if she had to."

"_Maybe she was just exaggerating. How could an average thirty year old woman destroy a whole high school?" _

"I don't know, that's what worries me. We can't really even know who a person really is anymore, since Gene." Pepper said.

"_Look, Pep, I know you're still hurt from that, we've all still got a few trust issues left over. But I don't think Amy is really going to destroy a whole school."_

"Well, sure maybe not that, but she said she'd get rid of you too. Tony, I'm worried. What if she really hurts you? No offense, but in your condition, it's not that hard to do…" Pepper said.

"_Pepper, I'm Iron Man. There's no way I'm going to let some woman kill me off. I'm a little bit stronger than that." _

"_Yeah, Pepper. If that's not enough I'm War Machine. So if Tony can't kick her butt, then I will. The three of us are perfectly safe." _Rhodey added.

"If you say so…" Pepper sighed.

~…~

After their long weekend together, Virgil and Amy got home safely (after Pepper was convinced that she hadn't done anything to her father)—Virgil having some interesting news for Pepper.

"God, you're not having a baby are you?" Pepper asked.

"Gosh no! Honey, that' way out of the question!" Virgil explained.

"Good…" Pepper muttered.

"We wanted to talk to you about school." Virgil began. Pepper caught the satisfactory look on Amy's face.

"Amy and I have talked it over, and we think it's best if you enrolled in a…different kind of school."

Pepper immediately stood from her seat.

"Dad, no! I'm not going to boarding school, that's exactly what _she _wants you to do! She brainwashed you, there's no way I'm going to boarding school, I won't let you do it!"

"Pepper, it's for the best. This school is in western New York and we both think you'll get the best education there. We'll come visit you whenever we can, Pepper." Virgil tried. Pepper couldn't believe what she was hearing. Tears were pushing at her eyes.

"Dad, no! I won't do it, I won't go!"

"Pepper, we're not giving you a choice."

"Then you leave me with no choice! That's it, that's the final straw. I can't take it anymore. She's been here for two, maybe three months and she's already ruining my life! There's nothing you can do to get me to go to some school on the complete opposite side of the state, dad. I can't be that far away from my friends. Not that far away from Tony."

"Pepper, you have to. We're making you."

"Dad, don't you see what she's doing? She's manipulating you! She claims to love you but she can't even tolerate me? Don't you think that if she really loved you she'd accept me?"

"Pepper, you know we love each other. This isn't about us not caring for you, we just want the best for you!"

"But this is the best for me! I have a steady relationship, good friends and a promising future! Even if I can't make it to college I know Tony will have my back through anything! Dad you can't take me away from this! Have a soul, have an opinion! Have an individual identity! Where's the dad I know?" Pepper said, quieting down and letting tears fall from her cheeks. She brushed past the two, ignoring Amy's smug look. When she looked back to close the door, what she saw wasn't her father, an honest, caring, good man and his okay girlfriend. What she saw was her evil stepmother and her puppet father.

She closed the door and headed to the only place she knew would make her feel better.

Virgil, however, wondered if he'd made the right decision.

**Eh I think that's enough for now. I hope I got the point across in that last part, because it's not just more meaningless drama from Amy. If you got a good point from it, then I'll be satisfied with the chapter. If not, feel free to message me and I'll be happy to answer some questions you may have…I just want to be sure I'm getting it clear across that Amy's maybe up to something…review? (Sorry I'm babbling -.-)**


	8. Worried

Pepper came trudging into the armory angrily as she threw her stuff down onto the floor and sat across from Tony, who was working on the armor.

"What's up with you?" He asked curiously.

"Ugh, its my dad. He and Amy got home from their honeymoon weekend not too long ago and he came back completely brainwashed by Amy. He actually agrees with her and wants to send me to some stupid boarding school." Pepper complained.

"Wait, so you're saying he's actually going to go through with it?" Tony responded as he worked on the armor.

"Yes. She's got him wrapped around her stupid finger. They want to send me across the state, in Buffalo. I don't want to be that far away from you, and Rhodey, and Iron Man." Pepper said, her voice subtle yet sad.

Tony caressed her cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb across it.

"Pep, I'd never let them take you that far away from me. I have money, I could take care of you, give you anything you need, want and more. There's no way I'd be that far away from you for that long."

With Tony's soothing words, Pepper placed her hand over hers.

"I know I can count on you, Tony," Pepper said with a small smile. "It's just my dad I'm worried about. He's not acting like himself, but he doesn't even realize it. He thinks everything's normal. And he doesn't even realize that Amy hates me. Every time I try to tell him he doesn't believe me."

"If it'll make you feel better, I believe you." Tony offered. Pepper smiled slightly.

"Thank you, Tony; I know you always believe me." Pepper responded. Tony shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for my lady." He said seductively, wrapping his arms around Pepper's waist, kissing her repeatedly.

"Mh, Tony…" Pepper moaned. "Come on, I'm tired." Tony, in defeat, returned to working on the armor.

"I just feel scared, you know? Like Amy's got something up her sleeve. Like somehow I'm not going to be there and she's going to do something horrible." Tony hugged her in comfort. He hated seeing her upset. He hated when she was worried, scared, upset, or anything but happy. He couldn't help it.

"Whatever happens, I promise I'll protect you and your dad." Tony assured her as he held on to her. Pepper snaked her arms back around Tony, letting the warmth of his strong arms take her away and soothe her.

~…~

Later that night, Tony and Pepper went back to Pepper's apartment to hang out for the rest of the night. As they walked casually into the apartment, hands wrapped together tightly, and situated themselves on the couch to watch TV, Virgil sat down on the couch next to the one Tony and Pepper had sat on with a newspaper.

"Hello again, Tony," He greeted. "Nice to see you again."

"Always nice to see you, sir," Tony responded, his arm around Pepper. He knew he dared not bring up the boarding school dilemma, even if he was aggravated by it. He wanted to stay a boyfriend that he approved of.

"Hanging out for the night?" Virgil asked.

"Yes, dad, we're actually choosing to hang out here for the night. Believe it or not." Pepper teased with a smile. True, she wasn't the happiest with her father right now, but she couldn't resist being happy. Heck, until Amy waltzed into the room, it almost seemed as if nothing was wrong.

But of course, Amy had to walk in and ruin that.

When Amy walked in to sit next to Virgil, she noticed Tony sitting beside Pepper.

"Oh, hello Tony! I don't believe we've been properly introduced yet," Amy said. "I'm sure you know I'm Amy," She finished, holding her hand out for him to shake.

"Oh, hi. My name's Tony, but I'm sure Pepper's told you already." Tony said, shaking Amy's hand.

As she went to sit down next to Virgil, she gave Pepper a very unfriendly look. Pepper glared back, whispering to Tony whether or not they could sneak out of there. She didn't want to have to deal with Amy for the night. Unfortunately, Tony didn't want to make a bad impression on them, and he was tired from Iron Man business and then working on the armor for the rest of the day, so once he had settled, he didn't want to move. Somehow Pepper knew that'd be the answer.

~…~

Amy, upon entering the living room, had been hoping Pepper and her stupid boyfriend would've been out for the night so she could make her move and finally kill the stupid old guy off. Now she was frustrated because she had to find a way to get them out of the house.

As she got a page from her boss, she excused herself to 'go to the bathroom'.

"I know I was supposed to finish him off tonight, but his daughter and her stupid boyfriend are in the house. I can't kill him in front of them, they'd stop me too soon."

"_Well get rid of them first,"_ Her boss demanded.

"I know that. But I want to spare the girl so I can torture her after I kill her father. That brat has been in my way since day one."

"_Well be quick about it. We've got assignments piling up for you." _

"Hey, going undercover was your stupid idea." Amy retorted.

"_Just do your job."_

Amy hung up and stuffed her phone back in her pocket and poked her head out of the bathroom to spy Virgil reading the newspaper, like always, and Pepper and Tony sitting together on the couch. She smiled devilishly.

"Soon, you fools," She whispered. "I will finish you all off."

~…~

After Tony left (due to Roberta nagging to him that it was after midnight and he needed to come home) and Pepper went up to bed, Amy smiled evilly. She felt the sheathed knife in her back pocket, but she also knew that'd be too easy. She knew exactly the way she wanted to go about doing it, and she knew just how she was going to lure Pepper in to watch her father die.

An hour earlier, Amy had wandered into bed to 'turn in for the night'. Bait for the ploy she had brewing.

She kicked off her normal clothes and dawned her favorite assassinating uniform: a sleek black combat suit with a handy belt wrapped around her waist to store guns, laser blasters and knives.

With a rope curled up and hidden behind her back, she snuck up behind Virgil and tied his mouth with a piece of cloth to quiet him before he could call for help.

She tied his hands behind his back and tied his ankles together and dabbed his mouth with an alcohol that made him fall fast asleep.

Amy left a note with a knife sitting next to it on the kitchen counter for Pepper to see when she would wake up the next morning.

Laughing quietly and menacingly, she draped Virgil over her shoulder and slammed the door shut behind her.

**Baah that's enough for now…I know, it wasn't as exciting as I wanted it to be. It was a rather calm chapter. But hey, the next chapter will be action-packed, I promise! Review!**


	9. Taking Action

When Pepper woke up the next morning, she blissfully found her way to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast, she caught sight of the note sitting on the counter. She poured a quick cup of coffee and picked it up curiously and began reading.

_Hello, Pepper…_

_I suppose you're wondering why this note is here and why your father isn't in his usual stupid routine. Well, I'm going to explain. You see, I may not have been able to convince you to like me, but that's okay, because apparently I didn't need to. Your father is a petty fool and I control him like a puppet master. Thanks to you, your boyfriend and your father all my pawns have fallen into place. _

_You see, your father is not home because I have taken him hostage. Kidnapped, minus the kid and plus the adult. I expect you're going to go get your precious little boyfriend for protection and spring into action, except if you do I will kill your boyfriend in one swift move and then show you to your father and kill him too. I was originally assigned to kill your father, but the three of you will be a thousand times more fun. _

_So, unless you don't mind seeing your boyfriend dead, I'd suggest you come alone, or better yet don't come at all, and don't tell anyone anything and just let me kill your father—or if need be, both of you—silently so I can go back to being assigned people to kill. Have fun making your choice._

_Sincerely,_

_Amy. Although I figure you know that by now._

_P.S.-If you do choose to find him, I'm sure he's got something on him that you can track. Or maybe I do. Who knows._

Pepper was frozen as her coffee mug dropped to the floor.

~…~

As Tony and Rhodey were joking around and laughing in the armory, Tony worked on the armor.

"Dude, that is so weird." Tony laughed as he heard his phone go off, proceeding to answer it.

"Hey Pep, what's up?" He greeted.

"_Tony, my dad is in danger." _ Pepper explained. Tony heard her choking her tears back and failing miserably and immediately rushed to armor up.

Once he got to Pepper's apartment, he saw Pepper waiting outside for him, pacing very nervously, tears staining her cheeks.

"Pepper, I'm here, what happened?" Tony asked, rushing over to her as he landed on the ground and immediately wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Pepper let her tears go as she coiled into him only briefly before poking her head up and explaining.

"Amy left a note saying she kidnapped my dad and she wants me to stay away so she can kill my dad, cuz she was paid to or something. Tony, she said that if we come to try and stop her she's going to kill us both. What are we going to do?"

Tony saw the genuine and sincere fear in her eyes. He hated when he saw that because it made him angrier than he could ever get in an ordinary crime situation.

"Well she doesn't know I'm Iron Man. And we are going to do anything we can do get your dad back, okay? I promise." Tony said, placing his hands on her shoulders as he talked to her. Pepper nodded and smiled up at Tony as his armored finger wiped away her tears. He held out his hand, and as Pepper took it, Tony wrapped his other arm around her waist and they headed over to where Tony had tracked down the signal from Amy's phone—in an abandoned warehouse by the shore.

~…~

"But Amy, I don't understand, I thought you loved me." Virgil asked, his tone showing how hurt he was.

"Ha, you actually thought I loved you…the only reason I ever cared to meet you is because my boss told me to assassinate you. It's my job. This was the only way I could get close enough to actually get the job done without your stupid daughter getting in the way." Amy explained.

"So, what you're saying is, the affectionate, caring, I-love-you Amy was never real and this whole time youjust wanted to kill me? A-and Pepper, she was telling the truth about you notliking her?"

"Uh, yeah. See, now you'recatching on!" Amy said. Virgil sank back in his seat miserably, until Iron Man burst through the wall, Pepper standing behind him.

"Pepper! What are you doing here?"He asked, surprised.

"Dad!" Pepper said, relieved as she ran over to him. Amy walked in to the room casually as she spotted Pepper consoling her father. She was about to kill them both, but Iron Man intervened by shoving her into the wall.

"Don't even think about hurting them or ill hurt you so bad you'll wish I killed you here!" Iron Man warned viciously.

"Hey, dude you need backup?" Rhodey said over the comm systems at the armory.

"I might need you soon, I don't know yet. Stay tuned." Tony answered as he pinned Amy to the wall.

"Listen, lady, no one harms my Pepper. No one." Tony warned. Amy smirked.

"Oh, so its her boyfriend, isn't it?" She said slyly. It did make sense to her that Tony Stark was Iron Man.

Virgil looked over to Pepper, who seemed to have a look on her face that suggested she was swooning over how heroic Iron Man was.

"Pepper, what are they talking about? Do you somehow know Iron Man's secret identity?"

"What? Dad, come on, how would I ever be lucky enough to know something like that? No one knows his secret identity! Now come on, i have to untie your hands." Pepper said, shaking off the proud feeling to help her father.

"What? No. I-I'm not her boyfriend, I'm a superhero. Superheroes can only love fighting crime. I work alone. I have no relation to this...Pepper." Tony lied. It was a darn good thing he was wearing a mask, because he had the worst poker face in history. He hated to have to lie about such things, but it was for the safety of his friends and family.

"Right, sure. You keep saying that. Well, listen, this has been fun, but I have a bratty teenage girl and her father to kill. So get outta my way." Amy said, trying to wriggle free of Iron Man's grasp.

"Not so fast, you're not going anywhere." Tony said, pinning her down harder. She reached into her utility belt and pulled out a stun Ray and fired it at Iron Man, leaving his armor to short-circuit. Iron Man, of course, was almost immune to that due to the fact that his armor was so advanced.

Before she could get to Pepper and Virgil, Tony fired a repulsor at her l, which made her topple into a pile of boxes.

She hadn't counted on Iron Man showing up to save the day. She hadn't thought he'd hear of or even care to intervene in such a minor thing compared to villains he usually faced. It puzzled her.

"Pepper, go! Get your dad out of here, I can take this fool!" Tony yelled as Amy got up and fumbled with a laser blaster.

"No, I want to help! We have a better chance at this together!" Pepper yelled back.

"Pepper, I don't want you two to get hurt. Please, get to safety!" Tony begged as he dodged Amy's laser blasts and fired his repulsors at her.

"Tony, were in this together and were going to solve this problem together! We can call the police while you keep Amy here! I'm sure she's not so heartless that she didn't at least care for my dad a little! Im sure if you let him try, he can get through to her!' Pepper shouted back, confusing Virgil by calling Iron Man 'Tony'.

"Fine, ill hold her still, you can try it. But I won't let you get hurt and you need to stay a safe distance away!" Tony demanded. Pepper and Virgil took a few steps back, and Pepper motioned for Virgil to begin.

Virgil cleared his throat and spoke as Iron Man pinned Amy to a wall.

"Amy, I know somewhere deep inside you you're not a bad person like this. I know somewhere inside you there's a girl yearning to be the girl she's been pretending to be all this time, and she really does want to marry me for me and be with me for me, and not to kill me. Somewhere inside you I know you've lived me just as much as I've loved you this whole time. I need that Amy right now. So please, come back to me. You're a good person at heart, and I know it." Virgil explained softly. Pepper patted her father's back in support.

This, however, made Amy more furious.

"Don't you dare try and understand my life! You don't understand me at all!" She yelled as she shoved Iron Man off of her, charging at Pepper and Virgil with a knife.

**I know, I know, that's an unfun place to end the chapter. But hey, at least I know you'll stay tuned for the next one (; review?**


	10. Taking Action, Pt 2

"Hold it right there!" War Machine said as he landed in front of Virgil and Pepper, stopping Amy from stabbing them. Amy ripped her arms free of War Machine's grasp trying to move past him to kill Pepper and Virgil, but Rhodey grabbed the back of her combat suit and pushed her away from the two. Landing against a wall, sunken to the floor, Iron Man fired his repulsor at her. This stunned her momentarily.

Amy got up a moment later, charging at Iron Man and War Machine with a laser gun, firing it at them multiple times. They both managed to dodge the lasers, firing their own artillery at her.

"Pepper, it's too dangerous here, we need to leave!" Virgil said as the three of them fought on, trying to get Pepper to move; to his dismay, she wouldn't budge.

"No, I want to help!" Pepper paused, realizing the statement would confuse her father. "I-I mean there has to be something we can do! They shouldn't have to bother themselves with our problem!"

"Pepper, they're superheroes, it's their job to protect us! But they can't protect us if we're standing right in the middle of the danger! Now come on, please MOVE!"

"You go ahead if you want to leave so badly, then! I'm going to find a way to help!" Pepper said, breaking free from Virgil's grasp on her arm, running to an opposite end of the garage to find something stashed away inside that could help.

"Pepper!" Virgil called after her. He sighed, annoyed. He would've helped, if he had his array of weaponry for work with him. But unfortunately, Amy had kidnapped him when he was getting up to go to bed, so he didn't get the chance to snag it. He didn't know what he could do, so he fumbled around in his pockets to see if he had a phone on him. Luckily it was in his sweatshirt pocket, so he whipped it out and dialed 911.

Pepper, having raided the garage for something that could help, couldn't find anything, so ran back into view of Iron Man and War Machine as they managed to have her pinned down, weapon fallen to the ground.

"Pepper, grab her laser gun and throw it into the pier, or destroy it!" Iron Man shouted. Pepper ran for the laser gun, which had slid a few feet away from Amy, grabbed it and threw it against the wall. Immediately upon impact, it smashed into pieces.

"Now you're powerless! Give up, you can't beat us!" War Machine said.

"Never! I have to complete my mission!" Amy responded, trying to wriggle free.

"Who sent you after him?" Iron Man demanded.

"My boss!" She explained. "I'm an assassin, it's my job!"

"Well we're not going to let you finish the job, though. You're done," Iron Man said.

Amy, however, refused to give up. She reached down in her pocket and found one last smoke bomb and threw it at her feet. It soon released a cloud of dark smoke, which temporarily blinded and confused the two armored heroes. In an effort to clear the fog, the two released their hold on Amy to wave the smoke away. Amy chuckled evilly and snuck away from the two, suddenly grabbing Pepper. She snatched her knife from its pocket on her combat suit and held it to her neck.

As the smoke cleared, Tony caught sight of Pepper, who was now scared beyond measure.

"Pepper!" He yelled, angrily charging at Amy.

"Hold it! One more step and I cut her head clean off!" Amy yelled. Iron Man immediately stopped.

"Iron Man, help!" Pepper yelped hoarsely, tears coming to her eyes. Tony held out his hands, warming up his repulsors.

"I don't think so. Make one move and I slice her neck."

"What do you want from us?" Iron Man asked.

"I want you all to leave me alone so I can do my job!" Amy demanded. Tony stood there, frozen. He didn't know what to do. If he fired a repulsor at her, she'd kill Pepper on the spot. Anything he did would result in someone dying. He wouldn't let himself lose Pepper, but he wouldn't let Virgil slip away from them.

"Rhodey, I'm switching to internal comm. Systems, can you hear me?" Tony said from inside his HUD.

"Loud and clear." Rhodey responded.

"Good. She can't hear us this way. I need you to get Virgil out of here as discreetly as possible. I'll distract her as long as I can. Then I need you to circle back and hit her from behind." Tony explained. Rhodey immediately started inching his way back towards Virgil.

As Virgil spotted Amy and Pepper from several feet away, he called out after Pepper in a panic, trying to run over to free Pepper. He was stopped by War Machine holding him back.

"Amy, please, why are you doing this?" Virgil asked, scared.

"What happened to the Amy I knew? There's still a chance for you to turn back, you know. I'd be willing to be your friend if you're willing to start over and start leading a good life." Virgil said. Amy didn't know how to respond, so she didn't make a move. "I know you're a better person than this, Amy, there's good in you somewhere. Give up now and I'll help you find that good."

Amy couldn't stand it anymore. She hated how he constantly said that to her. It wasn't true, she thought. I'm not good, I kill people for a living. That's not what good people do.

"Stop trying to understand me! I'm not good, you're lying!" Amy shouted, releasing Pepper and charging at him.

"Tony, what are you doing? Are you insane? You're going to let her get away with killing my dad? How could you—"

"Pepper, relax, no one's dying today. I have a plan. Just go with it, okay?" Tony explained.

Before War Machine flew him out to safety, Virgil caught a last glimpse of Amy.

"If you wanted to know, I actually did love you. For real. And I hope one day you'll be able to realize you should have too...but it's too late for us now. So goodbye."

As War Machine flew out, Virgil watched Amy's expression change from disappointed to angry. With that, he knew it was over.

Before Amy could move past them to get to Virgil (who was now not there anymore, courtesy of Rhodey,) Iron Man fired his sonic disruptors at her at the same time as Rhodey snuck up from behind her and fired his own repulsors at her. Amy fell to the ground, completely passed out from the crossfire.

"She's going to be knocked out for a while. We better get her to S.H.I.E.L.D. fast." Tony said.

"You get Pepper and bring her to her dad, I'll deal with getting Amy to jail." Rhodey said, scooping up Amy in one arm and meeting the police outside.

Tony approached Pepper calmly.

"Pepper, are you okay?" He asked.

"I think so…" Pepper responded. Tony wrapped his arms around her securely before taking to the skies to find her dad.

~…~

Virgil had already found the police when they had arrived, and was already discussing Amy's expected sentencing with the police when War Machine brought her out.

Iron Man and Pepper soon joined in on the conversation, discussing Amy's prison sentence for a while until the ordeal was settled and Amy was being shipped off to a high-security prison. Pepper found her dad as the heroes discussed with the police.

"So, you okay?" She asked. Virgil sighed and placed a hand on Pepper's shoulder.

"I think I will be, eventually." He answered.

"I'm sorry Amy ended up trying to kill you."

"Oh, honey its okay, you tried to warn me, after all. I probably should've listened to you. But I was too caught up in the excitement of being in a relationship. I guess I'd just forgotten what it's like to have someone to love like that." Virgil said.

"Well, it's not your fault. You didn't see it coming, none of us did. And hey, you've always got me." Pepper said with a smile.

"I guess you've got a point there," Virgil said, chuckling as he wrapped his arm around Pepper's shoulders.

"Hey, dad?"

"Yes, honey?"

"I-I don't mind if you want to start dating again. I understand it's been a long time since you and mom split, and I don't blame you for wanting to date again." Pepper said.

"Aw, you don't have to worry about that for a while. After this relationship I've realized that maybe I'm not so ready for that kind of thing yet. I think one little lady in my life is enough for me," Virgil said with a smile, poking Pepper's nose. Pepper laughed at her father's motion, pushing him playfully.

After they were done talking to the police, Rhodey decided to take Virgil home so Tony could take Pepper home. Tony grabbed Pepper and flew her home, landing on the roof of her apartment building. He retracted his armor as they sat down, legs dangling off the edge.

"I'm so glad I can always count on you to be there for me, Tony…what would I do without you?" Pepper said with a sigh, resting her head on Tony's shoulder. Tony wrapped his arm around her as he responded.

"I wouldn't want it any other way, Pep. I don't think could imagine my life without you, and I hope I don't ever have to." Tony said. "The only thing I want is for you to stay in my life for a really, really long time."

"Well then I think your wish has been granted, because there's no way I'm leaving. I love you, Tony, so much…" Pepper responded.

"Pepper, I love you more than you can imagine." Tony whispered into her ear as she drifted off to sleep. Tony smiled, carefully laid her back so he could stand and armor up, then proceeding to take her home.

As he approached her window, he landed on the emergency landing, carefully sitting her down for a moment so he could armor down and crawl the two of them through her window.

He laid her on her bed, pulling her sheets over her comfortably. Before he departed for home, he kissed her forehead gently.

As he crawled back out the window, he caught one last glance of her sleeping peacefully. He smiled.

_More than you can imagine…_

**Well, I don't know how exciting and action-packed that turned out to be, but hey, I tried my best. I really did. I'm fairly confident that I finished this story successfully…thoughts? Reviews?**


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